Website Packages, good or bad?

   Welcome back to the Exodus Computer Blog. Today I want to discuss the pros and cons of web packages. I'm sure you see design firms who list 3-6 bundle options, each with a limit of pages and cost increases. Most of the time, the first package only includes 2 or 3 pages. That would make for a very plan site that you have no reason spending high costs for. Before you consider any package, you have some things to keep in mind.

   Here are some of the basic questions that you need to ask yourself before contacting a website designer.

1. Are you marketing a product? If you are, then you may need a shopping cart or multiple product pages. Or even a gallery showing everything you carry.

2. is your site meant to be more visual or display a marketing message? This could affect how the site is even built or how much text is the focus of the site.

3. How many tabs do you need? An about page? Product/services pages? Blogs? Contact us pages? Gallery or photos?

4. Do you already have most of the text ready for the site and how much text is needed on each page? This is very important for a lot of reasons. The more actually creative writing a company has to do, the more it will cost you. And you need to make sure your site text will have some keywords and full on useful information so help on the SEO side of things. If you have too much text for each product/service, you could drown out your message. More content is better, but it has to be managed properly and not condense too much into each page. A careful balance has to be obtained.

5. Does your site need to be edited often? If you have a site hard coded and built from scratch, you will need a programer to edit every aspect from text to photos. You will never be able to change anything yourself without help. Exodus Computer does prefer an easy to edit flash builder for some sites. Obviously, we can't do every site this way, but for basic business sites, it's a great option. This way the client can change colors, text, or photos with a few clicks.

   Now that we covered that much, you can see the most simple packages rarely fit your needs. How much will it cost you per additional page, to add links, to create site text and does that cost include keywords? It's not the first time that you expect a low cost package to cover your needs, but then have 10 things added to increase the costs. Try to plan out your site the best you can before contacting a design firm. Not all firms are either close enough or even willing to site down and help you plan your site. Packages are good for the programers so they have something to build off the initial costs, but can be deceiving to the clients.

   This is the pros to the packages and why you will prefer this option. The next best choice for design quotes is based off labor per hour. Even if you get a programer claiming $20 an hr, he could easily set the project to 50 hrs of work. It may only take him 30 hours, but you have no idea. There isn't really a standard for this either, they all work at different paces. The other pro is you know what your paying for with package rates. If you only need two pages (not usually a good option), then that package will cover most of the costs. Honestly, if your paying to have a site built, shop around, ask questions, and get the best looking one you can get for the cost. Otherwise, your buying a plain template filled in and it looks out of date. Might as well not have a site if no one wants to visit it.

 

Before you build a website, please read this!

One major difference between Exodus Technology Solutions and most other companies is the fact we will research our competition. For example, when we design any site, we have see what other sites in that industry look like. Otherwise, we would have no standard to compete with nor understand our clients needs. Website design has to include several factors like marketing message, professional appearance, ability to load on older computers, avoiding misaligned sentences on all browsers, organized placement of buttons or menus, not too many gadgets running, text and tags in place to help improve search engine results. If your site only has a bland template with a white background, it may look out of date or incomplete to many users.
There are a few key ways to protect yourself from web design scammers. First, never pay for more than half down on a website. Personally, I wouldn't put any money down until you see something from them. It's not hurting them to do the work and then get paid for it, since your site won't go public until they release it. If we don't get paid, you don't actually get a website, so we don't require half down.
Two, see any previous work the company has done. It's possible they can't manage sites with several products or lack understanding of marketing. Some companies can't do more than the most basic of template designs. If you want your site to look new and professional, you may have to go elsewhere.
Three, if you ask the company how to edit the site yourself and they seem more inclined to charge you instead of helping you. Most builders aren't complex to the point you can't show them how to add a picture in 10 minutes. If they can't give ten free minutes of advice, then that company will never go the extra mile for you without hurting your wallet.
Four, do it yourself type of builders are nice, but rarely will you be able to design a quality looking site. Basic designs and bland backgrounds is a step backward. You are much better off finding a reasonable priced website design firm like Exodus Technology Solutions.
Five, all website designers claim to provide great looking websites. That doesn't mean it's easy to load or understands your company. Check the company’s website first to see if their own site is quality and then make it clear that it's there to attract more business to your company, not just look pretty.
Six, shop around on costs. If they are charging you $3,000.00 for a basic site with 5 pages and you provided half the work, then you are definitely getting ripped off. Exodus Technology Solutions builds most sites for $400.00 - $800.00 and if you’re providing a logo and site text, it's low cost to you. Few site would require thousands of dollars to work on, usually huge corporate sites with multiple databases and 20 plus pages. We usually try to customize the site to your needs instead of placing you into a package was well, this way you only paying for what applies to your site.
This is a good start of considerations and I hope this helps everyone interested in having a website. If you are interested in an affordable site with quality marketing message, contact Exodus Technology Solutions for more details. Thank you for reading.